More than 53 years ago, India marched bravely on to its tryst with destiny.

The future lay before it, burnished with the brass polish of hope, of promise.

Half a century later, the hope has been corroded by despair, the promise annulled by mass negligence.

Or has it? Is the mood of mass cynicism, of all-pervasive despair, really justified?

Is there -- really, truly -- no hope left?

That seems to be the consensus -- but we disagree. Because to yield to despair would be to forget one basic truth of that long ago day when India grasped its destiny with both hands.

And that truth is this -- it may be true that the Gandhis and Nehrus and Patels and Ambedkars and others led the nation towards the goal of Independence. But what really made it possible was the selfless sacrifice, the commitment, the belief and faith, of hundreds of thousands of citizens as ordinary as you and me.

That was our biggest strength then -- and it remains our biggest asset today.

For every corrupt politician and apathetic bureaucrat, there are a hundred citizens working, in their quiet, unassuming fashion, to put a smile on someone's face, to improve the quality of someone's life, to take Life by the hand and lead it one step forward towards the light.

And it is those little people we focus on here, in Project Hope. On them and their little lives and little achievements. Because it is there -- in these little people with big hearts - that the real promise of this country rests.

Programming a new future
The Hope Foundation's computer training centre is offering its slum-dweller students a chance of a better life. 'We will be extremely happy the day one of our students becomes a programmer," Dr Ashok Prabhat, CEO, Hope Foundation, India, told Shobha Warrier.

All for a cause
'Velan had so much to give others when he had so little for himself to give. It was his dream to have ramps at all places so that the disabled could lead a normal life.' Shobha Warrier on a special life that galvanised a movement.

The dancing beacons
'Their dance steps are graceful. Only a little more noisy and with good reason... The dancers in the troupe are all severely visually challenged.' M D Riti on an unusual dance school in Bangalore.

'I feel more inspired than ever to fight'
Bana Singh. Sanjay Kumar. Yogendra Singh Yadav. The only Param Vir Chakra winners still serving the armed forces. True heroes who made India proud with their courage.

'Mastermoshai is like God to us'
Kaylan Das was appalled when he discovered the inhuman conditions in which the sweeper community of Narkaldanga, Calcutta, lived. Twenty-eight years later, he has singlehandedly transformed their lives.

'Live life kingsize!'
When you meet Uday Sondhi for the first time, you would not notice his missing leg. Or know that his body is covered with scars. Or that you are meeting a man who defied the pessimism of medical science as he walked away from Death to re-enter the cockpit. Or that this gutsy pilot forced the Indian armed forces to rewrite their rule books to accommodate him.

Miracle mission
'It is an ordinary, simple school when viewed from the outside. But the miracles that happen inside are extraordinary.' A Ganesh Nadar on the Thulir School for Special Children.

Keeping the faith
'Our effort has proved that if society has faith in its members, every downtrodden individual can come up in life.' Satyanarayana, a former police officer has successfully rehabilitated ragpickers in Tamil Nadu. Shobha Warrier profiles his cause.